"The only person who gets to canoodle in my bedroom is my magnificent self."
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Pages

Monday, August 27, 2012

Review: Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Description:

Print Length: 317 pages

Publisher: MTV Books; Original edition (May 5, 2009)

Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc

Rating: 7/10

Summary:

Review:

Shrinking Violet proved to be a pleasant surprise. By the summary, I imagined a cheesy, overly-sentimental coming of age story. Shy Girl comes out of shell. Popular, edgy Boy shows sudden interest, though he has really been equally mesmerized with her forever. Mean girl gets showed up. And the story plays out. But there is a depth to Shrinking Violet that surpasses the usual girl meets boy story line. The secret that Teresa finds herself in is comedic and insightful, her voice strong and brave. What she talks about on her radio show is inspirational and only the tiniest bit corny, and when an interesting turn of events in her reality (her school and home life is her reality, and her life behind a microphone is her fantasy) strikes, Tere's new found courage is tested. She must stick to her gut, even in times when everything and everyone is telling her to turn and crawl back into her shell. I loved the romance because it wasn't outright and it wasn't even really a romance at all until the very end, but it was every bit as fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Everything about this book had sort of an indie vibe, a little edgy even. I felt super cool to even read it. I mean, I read it almost three years ago, and the way that Gavin described Sweet T's, Tere's, really, voice was absolutely exhilarating. "Husky". I would recommend this book primarily to 12-15 yo's, but I think any age group would enjoy it. But don't watch the Disney movie Radio Rebel, which is based off Shrinking Violet. Because, well, it sort of sucks and ruined the book a bit for me. So, just don't bother with that crazy and stick to page turning.